The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 25, 2013
Filed:
May. 15, 2008
Dominique Richaud, Fontainebleau, FR;
Alain Iltis, Montigny sur Loing, FR;
Vladimir Ouspenski, Saint-Pierre les Nemours, FR;
Dominique Richaud, Fontainebleau, FR;
Alain Iltis, Montigny sur Loing, FR;
Vladimir Ouspenski, Saint-Pierre les Nemours, FR;
Saint-Gobain Cristaux et Detecteurs, Courbevoie, FR;
Abstract
The invention relates to a process for manufacturing a single crystal comprising a rare-earth halide, having improved machining or cleavage behavior, comprising heat treatment in a furnace, the atmosphere of which is brought, for at least 1 hour, to between 0.70 times Tand 0.995 times Tof a single crystal comprising a rare-earth halide, Trepresenting the melting point of said single crystal, the temperature gradient at any point in the atmosphere of the furnace being less than 15 K/cm for said heat treatment. After carrying out the treatment according to the invention, the single crystals may be machined or cleaved without uncontrolled fracture. The single crystals may be used in a medical imaging device, especially a positron emission tomography system or a gamma camera or a CT scanner, for crude oil exploration, for detection and identification of fissile or radioactive materials, for nuclear and high-energy physics, for astrophysics or for industrial control.